NIT League opposes California container fee

NIT League opposes California container fee Representatives for several major shippers met last week with state officials in California in an effort to block legislation that would impose a fee of $30 per TEU ($60 per forty-foot container) processed in the Port of Los Angeles-Long Beach.
   Money collected as a result of the bill, which passed the Senate and is being considered by the state Assembly, would be used to pay for port security, environmental improvements and intermodal infrastructure projects to reduce highway congestion.
   The National Industrial Transportation League said it organized a series of meetings with members of Gov. Arnold Schwarznegger’s staff and several members of the California Assembly to explain that the fee would hurt business.
   The delegation, which included officials from Hewlett-Packard, DuPont and J.C. Penny, argued that many shippers and ocean carriers are already contributing their fair share to security through investments to comply with U.S. cargo and port security programs, such as the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism and mandates for port and vessel operators to meet international security standards.
   Shippers are also paying for a private sector solution to relieve congestion in the Los Angeles area, the group said. Terminal operators are scheduled July 23 to begin operating night shifts for truckers to pick up containers during off-peak periods under a program called PierPass. Under the program, shippers will pay $40 per TEU for containers that move during daytime hours (3 a.m. to 6 p.m.). Containers that move at night or by intermodal rail through the Alameda Corridor are exempt from the fee. The shippers reminded legislators that PierPass was developed to forestall legislation last year that would have imposed a fee on containers to fund road projects and that the principal sponsor withdrew the bill after the private sector created PierPass.
   The shippers said California could lose business as shippers relocate import processing facilities to other states to avoid the higher costs.
   The Agriculture Ocean Transportation Coalition is another shipper group that has also voiced opposition to the California legislation.